


Legends of the Fortress

by TimeLadyoftheSith



Series: Prompt Generator Insanity [2]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: AU, F/M, First Meet, Library, One Shot, Plot? What Plot?, Prompt Fic, blanket fort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 10:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11416086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeLadyoftheSith/pseuds/TimeLadyoftheSith
Summary: AU Prompty FicRose has been basically camping in the library on campus to prep for finals. John Smith has noticed this and decides to see if he can make her more comfortable!





	Legends of the Fortress

Slamming her pen down, Rose Tyler rubbed her eyes. Finals were only five days away, and she just couldn't seem to memorize these stupid formulas necessary to pass her statistics class. She glanced up at the clock above the entrance to the library. It was exactly nine o' one, and right on time the wood and glass door swung open to reveal Bookman.

Well, his name probably wasn't Bookman. It was just that every night she was there studying he walked in carrying a pile of books to return. He had to be some kind of genius or simply returning the hulking volumes for a professor. Rose liked to muse the former.

He looked the genius type: lanky, spectacled, freckles, and kind of spastic in his movements as he chatted up whomever was behind the check out desk. Some days he wore jeans and some comic themed shirt, but other days he wore a pinstripe suit. The only non-genius looking thing about him was his hair. It was a rich, gorgeous brown that seemed to have a personality of its own. Some days it was very sticky uppy. Other days it was back combed to sleek perfection, and sometimes it was pressed flat.

As if on cue, like he does at nine o' four every time Rose sees him, Bookman turns, flashes her a cheeky smile, and waves at her. She waves back, and he bounces on the balls of his battered red Converses before turning to disappear among the rows of shelves.

Now that her nightly study ritual has been fulfilled, Rose buries herself back into her notes. The short, wordless exchange is always enough to get her back into the groove for the next thirty minutes before the librarian will kick her out. Then it's home to sleep, wake up early for class, and then head to work.

The cycle repeats itself like a perfectly synched clock the next day and the following day. Eat, sleep, sit through a lecture, straighten shelves of shirts and pants, trudge across the grass to the library, study, wave at Bookman, wash and repeat.

Two days before finals now, and Rose makes it to the library earlier than normal. Her usual table is taken by a group with some pretty graphic pictures from a human anatomy class, so she wanders back to a secluded corner. Sadly, though, she can't see the clock, so she misses the door opening. There's a burst of giggles from the anatomy study group, and it makes Rose roll her eyes. She shoves her headphones in her ears and goes back to watching the numbers swim on the page before her.

There's someone talking on her left, but Rose ignores it and turns her music up louder. A tap on her shoulder makes her jump, almost falling out of her chair. She rips her earbuds out and looks up. Bookman is standing beside her, holding four hulking pillows, and a massive bag is strapped across his back. "Um, hi." She isn't sure exactly what to say. He is just beaming away like he has the best idea in the world.

"Put you things under the table." Bookman is bouncing again, on cream colored Converses tonight. He's also wearing the brown pinstripes.

"What?" Rose is utterly confused. "Why?"

"Because we're going to make a fort!"

"A fort?" Rose can't help but look around him, expecting to find a group of people. "You want to make a fort, in the library?"

"No, Wolfgirl, we're going to make a fort." He emphasizes the word we're as if it should have been obvious. "Hurry up, under the table."

Rose tries her best to suppress a giggle at his contagious exuberance and gathers her notes. She shoves them under the table on the thin carpet. As soon she straightens, Bookman tosses the four pillows underneath as well and shrugs of his bag. He opens it up to reveal a rich blue blanket with stars and galaxies scattered across it, and Rose helps him straighten it out.

He grabs four books off the shelves and uses them as weights on each corner, then he lifts on end. "Well, in you get!"

Rose ducks under, adjusting the pillows so they each have two, and opens her notes. It's too dark to really see anything, but Bookman is crawling in now and flopping down on his side. He has the bag with him, and pulls out a battery powered lantern that looks like an old fashioned gas lamp.

It brightens their small space considerably, and he digs in the bag some more. Out comes two bags of crisps and two bottles of soda. "Whatcha studying?"

"Statistics." Rose takes her snacks and shakes her head. This is insane. She is studying, in a blanket fort, in a library, with a man she's never done more than wave out. "Why'd you call me Wolfgirl, Bookman?" Her overworked brain is just now processing the name he used.

"Because, when you're frustrated with something you're studying, you growl." He sniffs a bit, popping another crisp in his mouth. "Why'd you call me Bookman?"

"Because every time I see you, you're carrying a pile of books that should tip you over." Rose can't help but give an exhale of amusement as his suit coat shifts to reveal a Hulk shirt. "Is that your super power? The man who can carry more books than humanly possible?"

"Could be." He rolls over onto his stomach and squints at the page. "I've got a degree in Mathematics. I can help."

"You've got a degree in Mathematics?" Rose raises an eyebrow as he snags her pencil and begins scribbling out a problem she's working.

"Yep, also a Doctorate in Pediatrics, as well as a Masters in Physics." So he is a genius. Rose was right.

"Well, then, mind helping me study?" She tucks her chin in her hand and watches.

"On one condition." He raises a hand to boop Rose's nose with her pen. Reflexively, she crinkles her nose.

"What?"

"Tell me your name." He boops her nose again, and Rose bats his hand away.

"Rose Tyler." She twists the top off her soda and pokes his shoulder. "What's yours?"

"John Smith-Noble."

"I think I prefer Doctor or Bookman" Rose shifts to her stomach, so she is laying face to face with him. "Doctor Bookman sounds like a superhero alias." He has brown eyes. She'd never noticed that before. They're rich and inviting, like a mug of coco.

They stay like that, under their makeshift hideyhole, until Rose can finally list off the equation formulas without looking. "I think you're gonna pass." John pushes his glasses up on his nose and closes her notes.

"So what's with the fort anyways?" Rose rolls onto her side, poking the blanket.

"Well, you've been practically camped out here for the last two weeks. I figured this would be more comfy." He rolls onto his back and runs a hand through his hair. "I don't own a tent, so this is the best I could come up with."

"You're so weird." Rose laughs and playfully slaps his hand.

"My sister would agree with you there." He taps his chin. "I've been thinking. A superhero needs a sidekick, but Wolfgirl sounds a bit cliche. How about Wolf Woman?"

"Who says I'm the sidekick?" She protests and props herself up on her elbow. "Wolf Woman is worse than Wolfgirl. How about Bad Wolf?"

"Bad Wolf." John rolls the words across his lips a few times. "The Doctor and the Bad Wolf: Legends of the Fortress."

"Hey! Who made this mess back here?" The voice of the head librarian, Donna, could be heard from just outside.

"That's my sister." John's eyes blaze wide as he whispers.

"We're in trouble aren't we?" Rose giggles and begins shoving her books into her bag, pausing to scribble her number on a piece of paper.

"Definitely." John shoves the crisp bags and empty bottles into his own. "I'll distract her and you run."

"Until the next adventure." Rose slings her bag over her shoulder and tucked the paper with her number into his hand. Then ducked out from under the table. "Donna! Hi!"

Rose crawls out the opposite side and rook off running. By the time she got home, she had a text message. "We need a new home base. Ours was destroyed by an angry ginger."

"Coffee shop across from campus, tomorrow? " she responds, dropping her bag on the table and grinning.

"Sounds good to me. I look forward to episode two of the Doctor and Bad wolf." His message ends with a rose emoji. Rose tosses her phone down and headed for the shower. This could prove to be interesting.


End file.
